Joseph
Virgone, painter and sculptor, was born in Sommatino in Italy on
April 6th, 1946. Since 1961 he has lived in France in Tullins-Fures,
Rhône-Alpes region. In
50 years of career, the artist, Master of Contemporary Art, has
consecrated all his life to Art with passion, because he realized to
date more than 5000 works: portraits, French landscapes, Venetians,
Sicilians, his native land , Still life, bouquet of flowers,
abstract, drawings, acrylics, wood carvings, on clay, on alabaster,
on marble...
But
around 2006, there will appear a new path ahead of him and he will
work hard for a long time. This new direction in his approach to
matter is a clever and subtle melange between a traditional
conception that has given way to his past works and to an actual
innovation in his artistic career. For the artist, therefore, they
will open very different horizons, giving to his work, that was
already very important, power and originality. With
this very personal approach, where painting, sculpture, figurative
and abstract will be intimately tied, he will offer the spectator
amazing creations and he gives to his art an irresistible strength
and a "unique" pictorial identity. It's about an
allegorical painting of powerful chromatic flights where the
spectator can discover unexpected faces that emerge and appear to
arise from the material and soul of the artist. During
his countless national and international exhibitions in Norway,
Sweden, Denmark, England, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy, France
(USA), Dubai and Abu Dhabi, his Works will be noticed and will be
awarded with numerous awards, gold medals, distinctions and honorary
titles: International Academician of Artistic Vanguards, Ambassador
of the Art of the Mediterranean. During
these important international fairs, Joseph Virgone had the great
honor to exhibit alongside the great masters of works such as
Chagall, Giacometti, Matisse, Picasso, Warhol ou Calder at the Museum
of Alatri in Italy. Numerous
art books (international dictionaries, "Grand Masters", monographs, "International Contemporary Masters" present
the work of Joseph Virgone and experts, historians of art and
publishers have often written about his long artistic career. Some of
his works are in public and private collections in Brazil, Japan, in
Shrines or Museums: Southern Nevada Museum in Las Vegas, Civic
Monreale Museum near Palermo and the Pinacoteca of the Faculty of
Fine Arts in Luxor, Egypt.
In
the context of the Year of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy for
Pope Francis, Joseph Virgone recently attended the Great
International Exhibition of Contemporary Art in Rome at the Sala del
Bramante. In August 2016, it was the work "Furie" that was
presented in Budapest, Hungary, at the Faus Zsofi Gallery. And in
November, it is at Palazzo Ximenes in Florence that took place the
video exhibition "Contemporaries in the City of Uffizi"
with his works "World" and "Horus".
Then
in 2017 at the Biennale d'Arte del Mediterraneo at the Levi Museum in
Palermo he has participated in video shows with the works "Le
Génie", "Incontro", "L'Impassible" that
have had themes: Spoleto Arte meets New York, Dali à Figueres in
Spain and Van Gogh in Arles. After his exhibition in Rome
(Contemporaries in the Sala del Bramante) he attended the July 20th
International Prize in Bagheria. Giuseppe Virgone's art combines
passion, spirituality, inner vision, virtual characters, surrealism,
mystery which challenges inviting the spectator to enter each of his
works sometimes with great emotion. An artist of great creativity
temperament and inexhaustible talent whose work is a new stone for
the history of painting.

To feel the emotion and some
serenity when I think the work I'm creating is already finished.

When I create my works, I do
this straight off or I think my works and I elaborate them before?

My present works are the
fruit of my imagination and their creation is spontaneous.

Is the world only source of
inspiration or confrontation with other artists?

You can surely find in my
works an influence of the world around me with its great events. However, the
source of my creations is first of all a result of artistic matter and of an inner vision.

When I create I’m conscious
that I transmit a message. What would it like the answer of my public?
An artist must highlight the
great problems of our world: the fragility of peace within nations, the
climate, the pollution, the future of our planet, the wars... and he has to transmit certain messages with his works. I myself am very moved when a spectator
feels some emotions in front of the work of my entire life.

How much important is the
dialogue with the great artists of the past and which of them I appreciate
more?
I have always had great
admiration for the great masters of the past: Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci,
Caravaggio ... They have contributed all with their masterpieces and the power
of their work to help me to follow their example with strength and consistency.

Is Art the rigor of the
rules, freedom of expression or a compromise between them?

In my works, there has been a
rigor and respect for the principles and rules governing painting and
creations, but above all there has been a total freedom of expression with a
pictorial innovation that is my own.

Did I ever think to renounce
making Art?
To renounce painting or
sculpting is a question often raised by an artist because he sometimes doubts
his vocation and the path he has chosen and why he is particularly demanding.
On the other hand, he constantly ask himself about the future of his work.

Did I ever express myself
with other forms of Art (writings, poetry, music, etc.)?
Sometimes, some works or
drawings inspired me short poems or writings. I also performed a song (words
and voices) for a venerable monk and capuchin missionary in Sicily.